Effective Self Hypnosis: Pathways to the Unconscious (Book & Audio CD) [Hardcover]

C. Alexander Simpkins (Author), Annellen M. Simpkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 2005

A complete, best-selling course by well-known, experienced hypnotherapists! Gives background of self-hypnosis, teaches principles, develops mental tools, and offers step-by-step instructions for trance with creative alternatives for results, Plus, clear applications: learning, sports, weight-control, pain, fears, habits, stress. CD leads listener into hypnosis and teaches relaxation. Ideal for anyone including professionals. Also available as a book-only (ISBN: 0967911303) and a book/tape combination (ISBN: 0967911311)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An unusually lucid presentation and integration! The authors present ways to apply the techniques developed in the book to common applications and they consistently use the therapeutic trance as the primary source for learning. This book gains an extra dimension of reality through the use of exercises throughout the text. For every bit of theory introduced there is an exercise to illustrate it." --Ernest L. Rossi, Ph.D.

"I have read this book and was very favorably impressed with it. I believe my late husband, Milton H. Erickson would have been pleased with this book. The detailed historic overview of hypnosis well presents the progression of understandings and the differences of emphasis in that field. The organization of this book presents and develops the learnings necessary to the accomplishment and utilization of self hypnosis. The gradual progression of exercises then enables the reader to utilize these understandings. " --Elizabeth M. Erickson for the 1st edition

From the Publisher

"Effective Self Hypnosis: Pathways to the Unconscious" is now available in a newly released format as a book/CD combination (ISBN 0976816008). Or you may prefer the book/cassette tape combination (ISBN 0967911311). The book is also sold separately (ISBN 0967911303) and the cassette, "Steps to Self Hypnosis" is also sold separately (ISBN 0967911338)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 257 pages
• Publisher: Radiant Dolphin Press; 2nd edition (May 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976816008
• ISBN-13: 978-0976816003
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,978,049 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top of the pile!, April 12, 2002

By 

Anglo-American Book Club (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Effective Self Hypnosis : Pathways to the Unconscious (Hardcover)

These authors are perhaps best known for their book entitled 'Principles of Self Hypnosis' (now out of print) which for many years was the most regularly recommended primer on this subject. This academic work completely updates the former book and adds much new research to the subject area. It is very extensive in nature and written in a style that facilitates access to both the professional and the lay person wishing to use self hypnosis for their own benefit. The book is accompanied by an excellent audiotape which clearly demonstrates many of the techniques described in the book. Whilst appearing a little expensive when compared with other self hypnosis books, this book and audiotape (Available separately as Steps to Self Hypnosis) can definitely claim to be 'top of the pile' in quality of content, research and writing style.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars refreshing change, March 11, 2006

By 

simsalabim - See all my reviews

This review is from: Effective Self Hypnosis : Pathways to the Unconscious (Hardcover)

Just want to point out something I discovered when I bought this book ("Effective Self Hypnosis") and "self-hypnosis plain and simple" (same authors): These two books are nearly identical! The text is pretty much the same (I sampled several pages from various chapters, couldn't find a single difference), although the layout of some of the chapters is a little different. The main differences between the two:

-titles

-this book is hardcover, 'plain and simple' is paperback

-this book has photos (historical ones, iirc), the other one does not

-this book has a more stylized layout of the text, the other more plain

-this book comes with a tape (I didn't buy it with the tape, though)

Just writing this to make sure that people who are thinking of buying are aware of this. Since I couldn't figure out any significant differences, I gave one of the books to my dad ;)

(If Amazon doesn't think this type of information belongs in the review section, I agreed, but I don't know where else to post such info.)

As for my review: I find this book to be a refreshing change from most of the self-hypnosis books out there these days. There seems to be preciously few books that do not use the old standard "write your suggestions, memorize them, go into self-hypnosis and apply them" procedure, which really hasn't changed in the last 15-30 years or so (not to mention tonnes of rules or guidelines on how to write suggestions). Besides, what brought my attention to self-hypnosis in the first place were time-distortion and pain-control (If you have to endure shots and bloodsamples on a regular basis, this becomes really interesting), two things very few books teach properly, if at all). In this book you learn a much more adaptive approach, where instead of following a mechanical process to achieve things, you take advantage of the natural tendency of the mind to change from moment to moment, wandering here and there. And it's wonderfully free of all the "whoppedidooda-hey-hurray how great isn't self-hypnosis, and how misconcepted aren't people about this!" style of writing so common with so many authors. Instead of presenting self-hypnosis scripts which you may or may not be able to use, this book gives very simple and easy-to-follow instructions, in the form of short 'exercises' that help you learn what hypnosis is about. (This way you'll also be able to take advantage of self-hypnosis for other things than sitting in a chair thinking through memorized sequences of words and images).

That being said, you don't get consistent results unless you practice a few minutes now and then (daily?) over a period of weeks or months. I'll freely admit I'm not the most experienced self-hypnotist (the grand canyon of understatement), and I have yet to achieve many of the things taught in this book; meaning this review should not be taken as any kind of guarantee that the methods will work. Reading this book will not be a life-changing experience. But using the methods presented, perhaps it is possible, over time, to change one bit here and there. ;)

And thank God (figure of speech, I'm an atheist) this book doesn't have "Quit smoking! Make more money! Experience perfect health! Get the life YOU want!" written all over it. No, it's not possible to guarantee that you can have the life you want, and you may actually not succeed in quitting smoking in as little as a few months/weeks, even with the best available resources. No, you can't loose 200 pounds of excess fat easily; it takes years upon years. No you won't become a millionaire just because you combine "'how to become rich' for dummies" with hypnosis (though if you write a book on self-hypnosis, and riddle it with over-optimistic statements, you can at least add a little to you income). People are different. For most of us 'Good things take Time'. This book doesn't try to sell itself by saying otherwise.

I give it a solid 4 stars. (Why not 5? Because perfection is a hard thing to achieve, and I'd like to have an extra star in case I finally find that one special life-changing book...)

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting reading---and it worked!!, April 29, 2006

By 

Diana (Davenport, Iowa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Effective Self Hypnosis: Pathways to the Unconscious (Book & Audio CD) (Hardcover)

I found this book and CD combination to be very informative. I learned a great deal about hypnosis, its background, and theories. There were many inspiring case reports that showed how hypnosis helps. I found them fascinating. But what I really liked is that by reading the book and listening to the CD, I gained a real skill with hypnosis. Self-hypnosis helped me in many ways. The method presented gave me concrete tools to make some changes, and it seems to be sticking! I liked that the exercises were doable and felt natural. I also found the explanations clear. Also, I didn't have to read the book cover to cover to start seeing changes. I could skip to sections that seemed most relevant for me. Over time, I have actually read the whole book and I enjoyed doing so. This book and CD has everything you need to personalize your self-hypnosis experience and get results. I highly recommend this book and CD.